How do you try to catch a first grader up to her fellow classmates?

My little cousin is pretty far behind where she should be, she will be in the first grade this fall and can't do addition, subtraction, pairing words with picture or numbers and so many other issues. It's getting under my skin how far behind she is and as her older cousin I want to make a change....

Expert

What the Expert Says:

Shareese05, you are an awesome cousin! Here are a few things you can do with your little cousin to help her out. The main thing is to have fun when trying to help her. If you make it too much like school, you might turn her off.

Read, read, read to her. Go to the public library to check out lots of picture books. You can both get a library card so you can pick out twice as many books. You can pick out ones you want to read to her and ones she wants you to read to her. As you are reading to her make it fun. Find a special place to read, some place comfortable. This is not a time to have her read. If she is behind, she just needs to hear good reading. You don't have to ask her lots of questions at the end. but when reading, point out the title, author, illustrator, how to turn pages, what's in the illustration, etc.

It help her with math, once again make it fun. Find items at home such as old buttons, keys, colored rubber bands or paper clips, and even the books you checked out. You can have her sort them by color, size, shape, or size. Then count how many are in each group. Have her add those numbers together. Have her count, count count. For example if you ware setting a table for dinner, how many folks do you need? say 4. Then how many spoons do you need? 4 So how many forks and spoons are there all together? 8 then say that's right - 4 + 4 = 8. If she needs to count them one by one, then let her.

If you want more ideas, please feel free to email me directly. I think it is wonderful that you want to help your cousin.

Additional Answers (1)

With mom's permission, you may want to consult the school diagnostician to see if your cousin needs to be evaluated to determine if there is a specific learning issue. Then if so, you would know exactly what is needed to be the most effective in helping.